Previously in the last Chapter of Confrontation …

Itachi watched as Sakura walked into the throne room all traces of their previous activities gone, her skin polished and cleansed and her hair shining even in the dim light, but her eyes were glowing with a satiation that he'd never seen before on her.

"Sakura-chan where have you been?" Naruto stressed as he ran over to Sakura and enveloped his arms around her tiny form.

"Oh I couldn't sleep last night so I thought I'd do another sweep of Kabuto's lab, and I found some interesting things that kept me busy for the night." Sakura replied smoothly.

Itachi smirked as he watched her, he was sure that she'd been practicing that story from the moment she woke up.

"Oh really like what?" Naruto asked happily.

Sakura looked at him carefully before she responded hesitantly. "… I don't think you really want to know."

Itachi's smirk widened, it was surprising to see Sakura not having something to say when needing to say something.

"Come on Sakura don't be like that." Naruto said.

Sakura sighed as she scratched her head moving chunks of hair out of her face as she did so. "Okay so it turns out that despite Orochimaru having mutilated his body into … Well you know; anyways Kabuto found out somehow that the old man was still capable of reproducing." Sakura said with a happy grin across her face.

Naruto opened his mouth to speak only to close it quickly his face taking on an disgusted look as he actually allowed the information to sink in. " … You were right I didn't need to know." He said after a while.

Sakura giggled softly only to frown as she watched Sasuke walk into the room. Itachi tilted his head as he watched Sakura place a mask onto her face, any of the little bit of happiness gone from her face replaced with nothing, absolutely nothing.

"Sakura, Kakashi wants you in Orochimaru's chambers; he needs you to go over a few of the medical journals with him and Shisui." Sasuke said calmly.

Sakura blinked before she spun on her heels and left the room. A sigh was heard from his left and he turned and watched as Kisame shook his head.

"Those three are so odd." Kisame said as he opened his beady eyes and turned to look at Itachi from his spot on the floor.

"And why is that?" Itachi asked.

"The blonde is so forgiving and has this weird innocence to him that is uncommon for a shinobi of his caliber. While your brother is brooding, demanding, cocky, and distant, yet keeps the real him reserved for the blonde and Sakura. While Sakura is just scary, unpredictable, not all there, highly intelligent and horribly looked down on and ignored, she's also incredibly patient and impatient at the same time and sweet and kind and cruel and unmerciful. How someone could put them on the same team is a mystery, it's like putting honey on freshly cooked fish, not a good mixture if you have never tried it." Kisame explained.

"The graduating class they come from all have parents that were in teams with one another as well. The Sandaime Hokage saw this and decided to place everyone in the same order their parents were placed. The only person that doesn't fit into the order is Sakura as Kakashi already pointed out there's a missing link to why she was placed in the team. … Although I think the Sandaime wanted this team to cancel each other out, but at the same time they somehow strengthen one another too." Itachi replied.

"Like I said they're a weird bunch, but obviously it doesn't stop you from having some of Sakura now." Kisame said with a grin forming onto his face.

Turning back to the room Itachi found that none of the others were listening in on them and hadn't heard his friend's words. Turning back to Kisame, Itachi asked in a calm voice. "What are you talking about?"

That grin Kisame had on his face split higher as he replied.

"Don't take me for a fool, Sakura is actually for once in a good mood since this entire mission started, and you look more tired than usual. It's obvious what happened after we fell asleep."

"You've got no proof."

Kisame shook his head. "My proof is your silence."

Itachi had no reply for that and the smugness that Kisame rarely showed came out from him as he spoke again. "That's exactly what I thought."

"Even if, what are you going to do about it?" Itachi asked.

Kisame shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing, I just wanted a confirmation, besides I'm just glad the little one isn't being all gloomy anymore. Too be honest it was starting to get on my nerves. Had I known she just needed a go-." Kisame was cut off from his sentence as Itachi interrupted him. "Don't finish that sentence." He commanded softly.

Shisui walked into the room then and walked over to them smiling happily at them. "Glad to see that the two of you are up, Itachi my head is starting to hurt so I need you to take my place in going over those journals if you don't mind. Kisame it's yours and Deidara's turn for round's as well."

Kisame and Itachi nodded their heads to let him know they heard him, they stood up, just when they were about to walk away Shisui pulled them back by their sleeves. "Do either of you know if today is a holiday?" He asked.

"No why?" Itachi asked.

"It's just that Sakura's being well I guess you could say positive." Shisui replied.

"This is a problem why?" Kisame asked.

Shisui stared at them as if they were from another dimension as he replied. "I don't know if you noticed but Sakura is hardly ever positive, and since we were put on this mission, she's been insensitive, impatient, impulsive, easily-angered, detached, proud, blunt and easily bored, not once has she shown a positive and optimistic side since we left the Hokage's Office." Shisui explained.

"We noticed." Itachi said.

"We will be enjoying Sakura's nice side, giving the fact that it's hardly ever here." Kisame said as he patted Shisui on the shoulder and walked away. Shisui gapped at them and turned to Itachi. Itachi shook his head and walked away patting Shisui on the arm as well.

Innocence and Memories

'I-Ta-Chi'

That voice, he knew that voice from anywhere, looking around the room Sasuke's head looked around the throne room to find that Naruto and Yamato were still trying to nap, a feature which was looking to be quiet easy for them as they looked as if they were already past the borders of asleep. Looking out the throne room and out into the torched lit hallway, Kakashi and Shisui had already replaced Sakura and Itachi some hours ago and they were given time to rest.

He'd remembered Itachi quietly saying that they were going to be looking around Kabuto's lab a bit more instead though.

Standing up from his spot he looked to the sleeping figures of Yamato and Naruto, making sure to be as quiet as possible as to not wake them up. Thankfully there was no one to have to walk over as all the others were outside on patrol.

Orochimaru's room though was on the other side of the lair from Kabuto's room and he was glad that they weren't there to stop him or go check it out themselves.

Walking through the softly lit hall, Sasuke moved his chakra to his ears; heavy panting and soft mewls entered his hearing range and he wished he was wrong and it was all a dream. As he came to the lab he found the door slightly cracked and looked through.

There before his sight was his brother and his ex-teammate, their sweat slicked skins pressed tightly together.

His body became hot with anger as he watched the couple, his brother grinding himself into Sakura.

How long had this been going? Had it started and continued from their time in that settlement? Had it started after they returned from the settlement?

Stepping away from the room he shrunk into his thoughts.

He didn't know what angered him more the fact that his brother didn't care about their clan or the fact that Sakura had gone and given herself to someone that wasn't him.

Itachi was the heir to the clan, their father's favorite the least he could do was pretend to care about what the clan had expected from him. Instead though he was running off, becoming a missing-nin and sleeping with a woman that couldn't bear children.

What about Sakura? How could she do this to him? She'd told him she'd never love any other, she'd swore herself to him; she'd wanted him to have her and take and claim her as his own. What had happened to her? What had stolen that innocence, what had stolen her from him?

… Four Years Earlier …

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura's voice said softly as they stared up at the night's sky enjoying their small moment of piece.

"Yes Sakura?" Sasuke asked as he looked over to his pink haired friend, her long hair swaying in the cool breeze of the night, she played softly with a kunai in her hands.

"I know it's none of my business and all but I was wondering." Sakura stopped herself and Sasuke watched as she began to nibble on her lips.

He really hated when she did that; she had absolutely no idea what she was doing to him at all, he could feel his lower region begin to twitch and ache at the vision of her pretty pink lips. His hormones were going crazy and if they didn't start talking soon about something that would distract him, he was sure he would jump the poor girl.

Closing his eyes he calmed his raging hormones for just a moment as he called her name. "Sakura, continue your question please."

He opened his eyes on time to watch her flinch, he hadn't meant for it to come out harshly. "Sorry." He apologized in a mumbled tone.

"It's fine … I was just wondering; I know it's probably something you don't care about seeing as you've got your mind set on your clan matters and all that; I just I wanted to know." She stopped herself again, he watched as she fought a mental battle with herself.

He loved that about her, she was such an intriguing person, so full of words and yet she bottled them up for reason unknown to him; it was probably her training, girls in clans usually didn't speak their thoughts, especially in old religion clans like theirs.

"You were wondering?" Sasuke asked pulling her out of her inner struggle within the confines of her mind; one day he'd love to see what was going on in there.

Sakura snapped back quickly, still nibbling on her lip she replied hesitantly in a small voice. "… Do you? … Do you think I'm pretty like you think Ino-san is beautiful?" She asked.

There she did it again, the same thing she always did, unconsciously already believing that Yamanaka was the better looking of the two, he doubted she even noticed that she used to different words when trying to ask the question. He sighed, she bowed her head, he knew too take that as a sign waiting for him to tell her what she expected him to say. She underestimated everything about herself, always putting herself last, she was so selfless.

Though if he told her what she expected to hear from him it would save him the time of having her chasing him around the village. And it would stop his mother from consistently asking when he was going to ask his pink-haired teammate out. If her told her the truth then he would be subjected to being seen in a more higher stature as well as her complete loyalty to him, something he did truly enjoy, this would also boost her ego and help in her training, making her a better kunoichi and a fierce teammate.

It was a fifty-fifty concept either he lost her or he won her. This was a very delicate situation and he didn't particularly like it.

It was like she was saying kiss me or kill me, both choices having some sort of repercussions.

He should go with the latter, perhaps if he showed her his feelings she would want to train more to become better, this could hopefully lead to a self-esteem boost.

"Honestly." He started and he watched as her large green eyes peeked out from under her bangs, they were so innocent and warm, he was glad he was going with the second choice he would never want to make those pretty eyes of her cry.

"I don't actually think Yamanaka is all that beautiful, yes she's pretty I admit that but she's a one dimensional character when she's with me, something that I find incredibly trying. You on the other hand I admit that I find you just as pretty, but as you are my teammate, I've become accustomed to your presence to the point where I've allowed myself to be alone with you. Something I'm glad I did as you; Naruto and Kakashi are the only people outside my immediate family that see me as a real person, and except my many flaws. To me I don't see you as a pretty girl, I know you more than I know any other girl out there and you know and love me, for this I see you as the most beautiful person in there world."

She was quiet for a while and Sasuke wondered if he'd sent her into a coma, he'd done it before once, on accident, and it was only for a day when she'd accidently walked in on him changing.

Sakura blinked and Sasuke realized she was coming back to their world and before he knew anything she was hugging him and squealing in joy next to his ear, he scrunched his eyes shut from the sound, he truly hated when she made that sound.

"Thank you so much Sasuke." Sakura replied.

"I was only saying what I believed." Sasuke replied in a mumbled tone.

"I know … I just I've never been called pretty or beautiful by anyone." Sakura replied and he knew that she was tearing.

He wasn't even surprised when she told him that she'd never been admired for her looks, he'd meet her family they were more strict than his own, he was surprised she had even come out remotely affectionate.

"Sasuke." Sakura said as she pulled away from him, the loss of her warmth was something he wasn't particularly fond of.

"Yes Sakura?"

She blushed and he watched as she went back to nibbling on her lip, it was as if she was trying to torture him. She spoke her words soft, her expression timid and her aura completely serious though. "May I have a kiss? If it's not too much to ask of course."

Smirking he realized he couldn't reject her the simplicity of the act, it was what they both wanted, and he knew he would be her first. It was also convenient in a way when he truly thought about it, they were shinobi and he wouldn't want an enemy to take something so special to her before she had the chance to enjoy it. Leaning forward he captured her lips softly, he'd always wanted to kiss her lips, they'd always looked so juicy and inviting to him. It turns out they were exactly that.

The kiss was simple and sweet, he knew that as it was her first he shouldn't allow himself the pleasure of taking control of the situation, it wouldn't be fair on her innocence.

Pulling away slowly he watched as her pink eyelashes fluttered open; he'd always preferred her when she didn't wear makeup, the pollutants only hid her true beauty. "Wow." She said in an awed whisper.

He smirked softly at her and before he could comprehend anything else she was sitting atop his lap kissing him more forcefully that he'd thought her capable of. Again his conscious called out to him telling him that this was wrong, while his raging hormones screamed at him to let everything he'd been holding in for his teammate out. The decision was becoming harder to make as she moaned at the feel of his tongue entangling with hers.

Their kisses were feverous, sloppy and lust filled. Something he'd expected as they were two hormonal teenage shinobi with a short lifespan.

He grabbed at her hips and glued her to him as he moved his mouth away from her lips and dragged it down her jaw and to her neck, her pants harsh and tempting but they were nothing compared to the way she moaned out his name.

"Sasuke … Kun."

He could feel her nimble fingers moving down his shirt they played with the hem of his shirt and reality sunk in then. He couldn't do this with her, giving her false belief that something could happen between them, it wasn't fair to her.

He pushed her off of him and quickly he stood up, he needed to leave, he needed to forget any of this happened.

"Sasuke?" Sakura's voice called out to him and he stiffened.

"I'm sorry Sakura … I can't let our relationship go any further than friendship." He replied quickly.

He could hear his heart beat in his chest as he waited for the inevitable question. "Why?" Sakura asked in that meek voice of hers, he could hear her shallow breathing the gasp of realization he could feel her aura becoming angry, saddened, it was so negative and low that it hurt even him. He refused to turn around and look at her, it would do no good to let her know how deeply sorry he was.

"Why? Sasuke." She asked her voice harsh; she knew the answer, now she wanted to hear him say it to her. She screamed at him this time as she questioned him and he refused to flinch under her anger. "I asked you why Sasuke?"

"You know why." He said softly.

"Sasuke … That's not fair … I love you … Isn't that enough?" She asked angrily.

"Not in my father's eyes it isn't, if Itachi were to die tomorrow without an heir my father and the Uchiha Council would be forced to choose me as the next Chief of the Uchiha Clan, for that position I would require an heir to replace me on my time of death."

"Sasuke."

"I'm sorry Sakura but it must be this way … I refuse to disappoint my father … even in my personal affairs."

"He'll never choose you as the heir Sasuke, even if your brother dies without an heir he'd never choose you. Everyone in that damned clan of yours knows this; if your brother died your father would choose your cousin over you for the position of Chief. … Don't you get it he doesn't care what you do Sasuke, for some odd reason you got the short stick of the deal … and he will never acknowledge anything you do!" Sakura screamed.

His anger was building and he needed to calm it, but he couldn't. "We'll never know what he'd do if I don't try at least … And being with someone that can't produce an heir will surely not help in my case." His words were harsh, but they were the truth in his eyes.

"Sasuke please." She begged.

"Someday Sakura, you'll meet someone who doesn't care about such things, and you'll love him more than you've ever loved me, and you'll want him more than you've wanted anything in this world."

"I don't want anyone else Sasuke, I want you and if it means I have to wait for you to see what your father has already decided then I'll wait, there won't be a man in the world I'll allow myself to fall for and I'll never give myself up for any man no matter how perfect he is for me."

A sob was heard and he knew if he stayed any longer he'd brake under the pressure of seeing her cry, he hated it when he was the reason behind her tears. Unconsciously he closed his eyes and he could feel his hands begin to move in the swift movements, before he knew anything he was on the steps of the archives.

Looking up at the Hokage faces he sighed, he hadn't meant to say the words, but it seemed as if it had been foreseen, eventually she was going to be told by a man that she loved, most men in their village were shinobi's. They had short lives and they wanted children to carry on their legacy. He didn't wish it upon her to be cursed as she was, but it was her curse forever more, she needed to learn that fast or she'd eventually break.

… Present Day …

Hadn't she promised to forever love him? Hadn't she sworn she'd never give herself to another? What had happened to that Sakura? The girl who loved to wear makeup, worried about her looks, the girl that depended on him, Naruto and Kakashi to protect her.

Nothing was right anymore in this world they were living in, everything had become upside down and inside out. He knew that a lot of this was his doing; he had been the one to push her away first. He just didn't like the push she gave back as a result.

Still though, she wasn't suppose to do these things with anyone else, he had expected her to be stubborn with the men that came her way, he had expected her to not allow them to touch her unless they swore they didn't care about her deficiency and loved her for who she was. He had expected her to always be innocent and warm.

Had he been the one to turn her into this cold and impure creature? Did her grandfather finally take his reigns back when he left and Naruto and Kakashi turn a blind eye while Sakura was torn apart from the inside and turned into that thing? Had Tsunade sending her away to war at a young age caused all of this?

So many question and he couldn't answer any of them.

Looking back to the couple he found them in a more intimate embrace as they continued their dance, Sakura's entire body was wrapped around Itachi's, her head tilted back allowing the older shinobi access to her neck, his lips grazing them just barely, her eyes shut softly and her lashes feathered across her cheekbones. Her petal colored hair was a curtain of curls down her back, her skin glowing fiercely through the gleam of sweat, lips pink, swollen and pouty.

Gods she was breathtaking beautiful … even in the arms of another man. … the arms of his brother.

He shouldn't be watching this, this was a personal affair only for their eyes to hold, it was an invasion of privacy, and for now until he found his answers he'd allow them the pleasure of not caring about what was going on between them.

Turning away from the scene he quietly walked back to where the throne room, positive neither of them saw him. He didn't need for the relationship to be anymore skewed than it already was.

After this mission though, he was going to find out what happened to his Sakura, the lovable and kind girl he'd left in Konoha out of protection and he was going to get her back, even if it would cost him a heart and a brain.

... Later that day …

"Sasuke I think there's someone out there."

Suigetsu's voice rang through his mind, his words registered but Sasuke paid him no heed, so distracted by the sight of Sakura sitting up against the wall alongside the Sai, the ex ROOT member, completely oblivious to the outside world as she read through the words of another one of Orochimaru's journals. Her skin still glowing even though it had been some hours ago that he'd caught them in the act. The image of her burned into his mind and popping into his sight, distracting him, another problem he would need to take care of.

He couldn't allow himself to see her as anything else other than a fellow Konoha shinobi, a teammate, a comrade.

She was either oblivious to his and really into that book or she was purposely distracting herself from his stare by reading that book.

"Sasuke." Suigetsu's voice called out.

"I heard you." Sasuke replied softly without looking away, he could feel Itachi's eyes burning holes into his head from the other side of the room, knowing that his brother was very territorial of all things. He wasn't surprised by this.

"I don't see the reason to worry, if it was a threat we would have picked it up and checked on it." Sasuke continued, finally turning his head and looking up at his teammate. "There's also the fact that we can't send anybody to investigate on a mere thought, we need concrete proof." He explained.

Suigetsu didn't seem bothered by any of this, he was merely letting his 'Boss' know of his findings, he could care less if they were attacked, Sasuke knew that Suigetsu was always up for a good fight.

The ex-Kirigakure's next words though caused Sasuke to lift his brow up in suspicion and slight amusement. "Alright then, don't come crying to me when your legs are broken from a surprise attack."

All this just to get in Sakura's pants, it was sad and amusing, Sasuke was unsure whether he should take offense in Sakura's defense or allow the sharp-toothed shinobi too continue to make a fool out of himself, for pure amusement for everyone else's sake.

There was a sigh and Sasuke snapped his attention to Shisui as he back off the wall he had been leaning against and started talking as he made his way towards the rooms exit. "If this boy is going to continue to annoy us, we might as well go and see if anything is out there, even if just to get away from him. I'll have Naruto and Yamato come back. Deidara, Kisame and Itachi and I will be out there, we'll let you know if we come across anything." He said as he left the room, stopping right when he stepped into the hallway, his eyes landing on Sakura with a forlorn look.

"Sakura I'm gonna need you with us too, just to be sure." He said softly.

Sakura looked just as perplexed as the rest of the occupants in the room did as she replied. "Me? I don't see any reason for me to be out there chasing goose tails." She responded.

"Sakura I'm not a fool I know you were trained in chakra sensory during her time in the medic academy, right now you're the best sensor we have on the team." He said.

Sakura looked hesitant but Sasuke could see a message pass between the two as they stared at each other, and before anyone knew it Sakura was caving in with a heavy sigh as she stood and followed them.

Now that was weird, he had figured out that Sakura and Shisui had gotten close during their time on the settlement, but he hadn't know they were that close. Messages being passed through eye contact now that took time and dedication, time and dedication you could only find when waiting for the enemy to strike and that took a very long time considering those sort of plans could take days while the actions only took a mere hour or two.

"Kisame watches the front, Deidara take the back, Itachi take the west and I'll go east." Shisui said as he continued to walk into the green scenery surround them, Sakura followed the older shinobi.

"So what exactly do you want me to do?" She asked as she took to his side.

"Sense something, I figure that if what you had said the other day about the chakra you had sense and how it affected you." He let the words hang and Sakura continued it for him "You think there's a chance it knew I knew it was there and will show it to me again." She finished.

"Exactly."

"Exactly something I don't want Shisui, that chakra chocked me! It wasn't anywhere close to me and it chocked me! Could you image what it would feel like if it was near me, because honestly I don't want to think about what it could do to me."

"Sakura didn't you just say yourself that there was a chance it knew you found it?" Shisui asked.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean I want to look for it and face it head on." Sakura replied.

Just the thought of that chakra made her shiver in uncontrollable fear, Shisui knew this yet he was still asking her to do it.

He was up to something, and if she was brave enough to ask, she would. She wasn't brave though, the Uchiha Clan did things for reasons she didn't need to know nor did she want to know. The only way she would ever involve herself in their dealings was if it was a threat to her family and that was all, all other people not part of her family she could care less about.

"Sakura please." Shisui pleaded as he turned to her and stared her into the eyes, Sharingan not activated … Thankfully.

She couldn't say no even if she wanted, it wasn't a normal day occurrence when a superior shinobi was begging for your help, especially when they were an Uchiha, a very high chained Uchiha to be exact.

"Fine … I guess I could checkout the watchtowers." Sakura replied as she rolled her eyes.

He embraced her with a deep hug; he was so affectionate that it was bizarre, he couldn't be an Uchiha.

"Thanks Sakura … I'll pay you back." He said as he pulled away from her.

"Yeah I know." Sakura responded back as she watched him disappear in flash. Sighing she looked around herself noticing they had walked nearly to the edge of the border of the sound village.

The watchtowers were close by then that was good; a lookout from the towers would give her the advantage of seeing nearly everything on ground and nobody knowing she was up there. Not that she thought someone was out there, the idea that one of Sasuke's lackeys actually having intuition was preposterous; they were all absolute idiots and whack-jobs.

Covered in heavy foliage, vines and tree branches, Sakura looked up at the tall watchtower, it was thin for the most part, most likely only enough room to fit two and a few things, but surpassed the height of the tree's surrounding it.

Like the entrance to the village, there were steps going down to an opening, passing the threshold, Sakura found that it smelt of dirt and stale air, it was cold as well; she wrapped her arms around herself tighter, thankful for deciding to keep her cloak on today.

There was a single torch next to the threshold and Sakura grabbed it, blowing off the dust that covered it; she coughed as some got caught in her lungs as she breathed in. Reaching down inside her cloak she pulled out her lighter and lit the torch, not at all amazed that it was still covered in the flammable gel. The stairs were steep, and it was a long way up.

It would take longer to walk the steps then to jump the case; she was bored and needed a good exercise anyways.

"Madara." Pein said as he walked into the small empty room that belonged to the immortal shinobi. As always the room was void of said immortal, something that was happening more often.

A throat cleared and Pein turned to see Madara leaning against the doorframe, he wasn't surprised that the man just popped up out of nowhere, it was what he'd always done; it was how he first appeared to them.

"You called I've come." Madara said as he continued to face his mask toward Pein. He hated that mask; it was just another thing that made him realize just how little he actually knew of the masked nin, another wondering why the man had a habit of acting like a complete fool.

Turning fully he walked towards the older shinobi speaking as he did so. "My scouts have told me that Kabuto has been on the move recently. So far that we know of he's been seen near Konoha and reports say that he may have broken into the Uchiha Compound and Konoha Medical Facility, killing a receptionist, this doesn't include the killing of the Fire Daimyo; Mitokado and Utatane want to put an end to him and the problems he and Orochimaru have a habit of creating." He explained.

Madara's mask face tilted slightly to the side as he spoke. "He broke into the Uchiha Compound you say?" He asked, Pein nodded as he replied smoothly. "From what I can gather he broke into the records room; a whole file on that Kyubi Jinchurriki's team was taken. They believe that he may have gotten something from the Hospital records as well, a computer was found next to the body, supposedly it was fried completely and they weren't able to track any of his movements on it." He explained.

"He's after the Kyubi? I don't understand why he would need it; Orochimaru had never wanted anything to do with the tailed beast; from what I can remember he was actually quite repulsed by them." Madara said, he sounded as if he was actually contemplating the subject of killing Orochimaru's medic.

"He may be trying to go through with Orochimaru's plans by thorting our own." Pein responded

"I don't know … Where's Sasori? Wasn't Kabuto one of his underlings?" Madara asked as he looked around the room.

Did he really think Sasori would just be standing there somewhere, waiting to be called on? Sasori wasn't the type of person that just waited for people, he was impatient like that.

"You called?"

He should have seen this coming, of course the red-headed puppeteer knew he was just going to be called on, it was as like he had hawk ears, always listening in on them.

Madara spoke again and Pein wondered if he should even stay now, it was obvious that the heading discussion would be only between the older shinobi. "Ah Sasori, we were just talking about your old subordinate … Kabuto."

Sasori nodded his head in understanding. "Yes I've heard he's been making some interesting movements lately." He replied in that soft baritone voice of his.

"What do you think about him starting back up Orochimaru's operations?" Madara asked.

Sasori was quick to respond with a snort. "I highly doubt that. … Kabuto has always been a bit of a bug, but he wasn't faithful to Orochimaru like that. Whatever moves he's making surely has nothing to do with Orochimaru's plan to destroy us … I would even say that they have absolutely nothing to do with the tailed beast or the Uchiha Clan. … He may wish to fight Uzumaki-san or Sasuke, but that's all."

"How would you deal with this?" Madara asked.

Pein knew how he would. Kill the kid and be done with him, there was nothing more to it, Kabuto was a risk factor that he and Akatsuki didn't need to take.

"Wait it out for now, he's no harm to us, and when he is we take care of him." Sasori replied.

"Pein tell the other two to stand down." Madara replied. Sasori spoke up again this time, with a question he couldn't argue with, it was all on their minds. "Don't mind me asking but what exactly are you doing with those two? We can't use them, they've fled from Konoha and are on the run as well. And their abilities aren't that needed either. So what do you want with them?"

He could feel the smirk on Madara's face as he tilted his head again, speaking in that sickingly sweet tone of Tobi. "Of course I don't mind you asking, but it doesn't mean I'm gonna tell you just yet."

The he was gone, and Pein was even more annoyed as well. The man just would never tell them what exactly he was up to, and he wasn't leaving them any clues to actually make logically guesses.

Then again nothing that had to do with Uchiha Madara was ever logically.

She was that much closer to killing that little bug of Sasuke's; there was absolutely nothing out there and yet she was stuck having to look around, chasing a feeling. With nothing else to do, she could think things through about how everything was turning out lately, but that was a bad thing, when she thought, she really thought. Which lead to her making decisions she would always and forever regret and she didn't want to regret anything right now. She was on a feel good spree … and she was feeling pretty good right about now, minus the fact that she was stuck up here with nothing to do.

Well she didn't have nothing to do, she could always organize her scroll or read through some journals … or try to unlock that other journal.

That sounded like a very proactive idea, the journal had information they may need, and with the possibility of it most likely having something about Tsunade's and Orochimaru's relationship in it gave her reason enough not to let the others read it.

Sliding the scroll out of her hair bun Sakura unrolled it onto the small space and bit into her thumb at the symbol, pressing her hand down onto the paper she released a small amount of chakra onto it and with a poof she found her hand on top of the large stack of journals.

Reaching back into her cloak she moved her hand around the inside cloaks looking for the vile she had obtained from Kabuto's lab.

Pulling it out she pulled the small piece of paper out of the clear tube and reached for the locked book. This would require more finesse what with Orochimaru's chakra unable to do anything without Orochimaru's orders being given it was just a useless chakra sample.

Placing the piece of paper onto the middle of the book, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Orochimaru's chakra was stronger than hers; it would give more of a fight to being controlled by another chakra. To control it, it would take quite a bit of refinement and an abundant amount of charm and manipulation. It was like a maze, she had the key she just needed to find the door to open it.

Exhaling she took another breath exhaling again, she could feel the chakra on the paper, the anger, the wickedness, the madness; it was unbalanced. Never a good sign when it came to chakra and the human body; it wasn't even a good idea to try and use it, with its strength it could take over her body, thus resurrecting Orochimaru.

'Lets try not to do that. … Yeah good idea.'

Concentrate, concentrate, concentrate; focus on the chakra, it was life, it was blood, it was sweat, it was death. Her body was beginning to sweat, beads of the manmade liquid was coming out of her pores onto her tingling skin, her burning skin, her tensed flesh. Another breath, chakra was like water, it was air, it was fire, it was earth, it was her home, she knew the path she was taking as she maneuvered through the crowded chakra force. Smoothing her chakra over Orochimarus she breathed out again, she knew this, this was her hands, it was her feet, her stomach, her arms, her hair, her eyes, she knew it like she knew every inch of her own body, there was nothing to fear.

This chakra was her chakra, not Orochimarus.

She could feel as it began to twist and squish around her own chakra, not blending, but not attacking, it was seeing it as a missing piece, trying to determine where in its small puzzle it was suppose to go exactly. Now, now was when she took advantage of its distraction and forced her want towards it. Making it move, making it obey like it was her own, because in that moment that was her chakra.

She pushed it, all of it towards the lock, smashing it against it and ordering it to unlock the book, ordering it to open the book. There was a resistance, questioning of what was happening, whether it was truly it was truly the holder or not. She continued to push though, and it gave up in its quest for answers, it's wondering if whether she was Orochimaru or not.

It thought she was and she wasn't sure whether she should be glad or not. The lock popped open and she breathed out, retracting her chakra from Orochimarus sample as quickly as possible, placing the chakra sample back into the vile, she closed it, placing it back into her cloaks hidden pocket.

Looking upon the leather bound book, Sakura hesitated as she touched the book. So much work just to unlock it, it showed that it wasn't meant to be opened. To put a chakra lock on something meant that nobody was supposed to read what was inside.

Kabuto and Orochimaru had a twisted agreement, it was a known fact.

The swallowed journals, the chakra locked book; Orochimaru trusted Kabuto with his health, his life, he obviously didn't trust him with his secrets though. He obviously didn't trust anyone with his secrets.

Therein lies the question though, if Orochimaru didn't trust anyone with his secrets, then why write them down at all? The answer was simple; he wanted someone to know them, someone who obviously had an extreme control over their chakra, and someone who could override his chakra without being taken over.

A gulping sound was made and she blinked back to reality founding that it was herself who'd made the sound.

Should she really open the book and see what was inside?

'No of course not, if someone ever happened to found out about the past affairs of Orochimaru and Tsunade they would see this as evidence tampering, everything could be lost.'

There was that voice again, that annoying little voice she saw as her conscious, and she knew it was right, everything was telling her not to open the book; to report to her commanding officer and let them know that she'd found it, to exclude the information that it had at once bared a chakra lock on it.

'Then again, who really has to know? Nobody out there watching, nobody knows we have it. The information could further our career, it could strengthen our abilities, it could help us find our enemies weaknesses.' Inner Sakura cooed in her head.

She'd been wondering where she'd run off to. Her own inner demon she would like to call the mental manifestation. Sometimes she wondered if that was what she was, she'd studied many people that had come to them about the odd vocal appearance in the their heads but for some reason hers seemed a little different. When she'd gone to Suna she'd heard rumors about Gaara's mental state, about the way creepy way he talked to himself and the times he was just standing around looking at nothing, seemingly lost. Upon further exploitation to the red head, she found that he was talking to Shukaku, the raccoon demon that she'd had the pleasantries of meeting during their first chunnin exams. The lost looks weren't so lost anymore; they were glazed looks of someone having a mental conversation with that other voice no one was to know about. During her time with Gaara she often had found herself thinking of Naruto and wondering if he went through the same things.

While she like to think of her inner voice as something other than the early signs of a slight split personality disorder she'd only like to think this just to make herself feel better, because she knew for a fact that 'Inner Sakura' was anything but a demon in disguise, and she wasn't going bonkers.

Looking back at the journals she sighed softly. She was already going crazy what more could the world bring upon her for reading a dead man's journal?

Opening the book her eyes widened at the first sentence scrawled in elegant black script.

'Mesmerizing little bud that was first seen sitting alongside a twin mother; if you're reading this you are no longer a little bud and have flourished into a lustrous blossom. I write this to you now finally knowing the truth of our world, and finally finding the missing puzzle pieces to your world.'

Thanks for the reviews.

tearsofjoy159

Taraha222

AkatsukiSexToy101

light-prevails-darkness

ummIDK – Look online women do have testosterone as well, although it isn't as high as men.

Emony

Miyabi doll – Thanks for the advice, I've been trying not to do the '&' but I guess they're still finding their way in there somehow.

Dark Neko 4000

Itaweasel-hime

craizypet

TeenageCrisis – I wanted to make it happen, but I don't see Madara as a very sexual person, I'm sure before he went A-Wall he probably was, but I think he's to focused on his ideals to really pay attention to that stuff.

Akatsuki Sakura Uchiha - …. Hmm. I was going for Sasuke literally walking in and Sakura and Itachi to busy and not really caring and continuing their business while Sasuke stood there shell-shocked and highly turned on..

But after I wrote out the second version I flipped a coin to decide and looks like this version came out on top, but I think it's still pretty good.

mUmaRhz – I'm gonna start putting up parts of the last chapter in order for people to understand some things.

angel897 – To be honest I think Kisame was an underwritten character, and I felt I needed to write him out to be a great character that wasn't just a two dimensional thinking character.

.Crux.